There are various prize-winning game machines in the existing coin-operating amusement industry to provide entertainment to both young and old. General speaking, prize-winning game machines will exhibit the prizes to the public to clearly show what the game players can get when they win to give them the motivation to play. There are different prize-winning game machines with different games using different operation modes. One of them is the long-distance shooting game machine where the prizes are given by the scores. Another one is the crane where a capturing device such as a bucket or a claw is maneuvered by the player to catch the desired prize in a playing field filled with all kinds of prizes. The other one is to strike certain targets to receive corresponding prizes.
As the development of game machines, one has proposed a game machine to received prizes through striking targets such as revealed by Halliburton taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,315,157 B1 entitled “grid skill amusement game or dispensing device”. A conventional amusement device is provided which allows an operator to exercise his skill to attempt to align a ram or a pusher directly opposite a tubular member which contains a prize. The ram is attached to a bracket secured to a belt on a horizontal member of a support member which can move in response to operator control in a lateral direction along the length of the horizontal member. The horizontal member is attached to belts on opposite vertical members of the support member which enable the horizontal bar to travel in a vertical direction in response to operator control. This arrangement allows an operator to position the ram at any location within in a plane defined by the support member including the horizontal and vertical members. In use, the operator attempts to exercise his skill to directly align the ram in front of an opening of a desired target member from an array of target tubular members. When the operator is satisfied with the location of the ram, or after a predetermined time has elapsed, the ram is driven forward along a third axis toward the tubular member. If an operator has accurately lined the ram up with a target member, the ram will center the target member and push any object contained within the member out the rear. The item falls from the array through a chute to a dispensing area which can be accessed by the operator.
However, when the ram is released by an operator to center the target member to push any object contained within the support member out the rear during the game, it is highly probably that the ram will not center the member but hit the peripheries of the target member. After multiple hitting of the ram on the peripheries of the target member, the ram will easily be damaged affecting the operation of the horizontal members and the vertical members leading to shorter maintenance and repair cycles and even breakdown of the game machine after a period of time. Moreover, the ram after multiple hitting will be shaking during targeting leading to lower prize winning probability which will reduce the interests of an operator playing the game machine.